Ganesha Festival Paris

One of the biggest outside of India and Sri Lanka and largely organized by the Sri Lankan Tamil community, the Paris Ganesha Chaturthi Festival is tremendous. It's celebrated as the birthday of Ganesh and the day people pay homage - mostly in the form of coconuts - to this diety who is the remover of obstacles on our path.

There were Tamil drummers and dancers; cacophonous chants; toe-crushing crowds (no shoes in the Temple); Brahmin in chariots; vibrant colors, endless images of Ganesh, fire, incense, jasmine, and...an heroic number of coconuts.




The Brahmin breaks the coconut and gives it back to you filled with flowers, sandalwood paste, and camphor. Apparently, "the shell symbolises the illusion of the world; the flesh symbolises individual Karma; and the coconut milk symbolises the human ego. By breaking the coconut, you offer your heart to Ganesh."

Om gam ganapataye namaha!

Rentree....

Welcome Back, Parisian Yogis!

The sun is shifting, the shadows are longer, and the days are shorter. That can only mean one thing...



The fall schedule at Centre du Yoga Marais starts next week,
1 September.

My September - December public class schedule will be:

Friday - Hatha Flow I/II 20:00 pm - 21:30 pm
Saturday - Hatha Flow I/II 12:30 - 14:00 pm

In addition, I am taking on Michelle's schedule from 2 Sept - 9 Sept, so that she can attend a retreat in Greece. This means I'll be teaching multiple classes on Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sat - and Tues and Wed of the following week. You can use either of our class cards during this period.

I will also be teaching individual privates, group privates, and workshops at the Centre this year.

Let the spaciousness of vacance transition you smoothly into the beauty of autumn!
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Bienvenue en arrière, Yogis parisiens!

Le soleil décale, les ombres sont plus longues, et les jours sont plus courts. Cela peut seulement signifier une chose…

Le programme d'automne a Centre du Yoga Marais commence la semaine prochaine, 1er septembre.

Mon programme public de classe de septembre - décembre sera:
vendredi 20:00 - 21:30 Hatha Flow I/II
samedi - 12:30 - 14:00 Hatha Flow I/II

Aussi, j'enseigne les classes de Michelle du 2 septembre - 9 septembre, tandis elle est présente à une retraite en Grèce. Ceci signifie que j'enseigne les classes multiples Wed, Thurs, Fri, et Sat - et Tues et Wed de la semaine suivante. Vous pouvez employer l'une ou l'autre de nos cartes de classe au cours de cette période.

J'enseignerai également les cours particuler et ateliers au centre cette année.

October 2 -4 Satori Yoga Studio SF

Returning to the Bay Area's greatest yoga studio, Satori, for a three-day Going Back to the Source: Yoga and Terroir workshop. Seasonal flow, forage (lead by ForageSF), and food. The three days will culminate in a yummy fall picnic with CA wine pairings, prepared by the formidable Chef Wong.

The first weekend in October is typically SF's most beautiful of the whole year.
I can't wait to share this with you!

More details to come....

La Belle Lumiere

Like a good jazz musician, whose more interesting story lies in the notes that aren't played, rather than the ones that are, a good photographers' true skill lies in being able to see what's beyond the obvious images in the frame. Combine a deep and committed yoga practice with a passion for story-telling with the lens and the result is raw and honest beauty. Her name is Rebekah Smith and this is a taste of her work:



For more of Rebekah's Going Back to the Source: Yoga and Terroir and Paris series, visit her Flickr page: La Belle Lumiere

Going Back to the Source

Behold my very first French tomato and basil crop!


Very small, but oh, so delicious and definitely worth the wait. Every time I eat a tomato from our little Paris green space, I feel like the story of our new home continues to unfold with every bite.

En Vacance 8/9/09 - 8/14/09

To all Yoga Marais students, I will be on a very brief respite from Sunday, August 9 - Friday, August 14.



The formidable Terence Carnavaggio will be covering my Wednesday, August 12 Level I/II Flow (My class cards are valid for Terence's classes as well).

All private sessions have been rescheduled and will resume the week of August 17.

I will have very limited to no internet or phone access during that time.

Believe it or not, summer is winding down. Soak up as much vitamin D as possible to keep your spirit intact through the winter ;-)